stem

{ }, n. A gleam of light; flame. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. stemn, stefn, staefn; akin to OS. stamn the stem of a ship, D. stam stem, steven stem of a ship, G. stamm stem, steven stem of a ship, Icel. stafn, stamn, stem of a ship, stofn, stomn, stem, Sw. stam a tree trunk, Dan. stamme. Cf. Staff, Stand. ] 1. The principal body of a tree, shrub, or plant, of any kind; the main stock; the part which supports the branches or the head or top. [ 1913 Webster ]

After they are shot up thirty feet in length, they spread a very large top, having no bough nor twig in the trunk or the stem. Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

The lowering spring, with lavish rain,
Beats down the slender stem and breaded grain. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A little branch which connects a fruit, flower, or leaf with a main branch; a peduncle, pedicel, or petiole; as, the stem of an apple or a cherry. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The stock of a family; a race or generation of progenitors. “All that are of noble stem.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

While I do pray, learn here thy stem
And true descent. Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A branch of a family. [ 1913 Webster ]

This is a stem
Of that victorious stock. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Naut.) A curved piece of timber to which the two sides of a ship are united at the fore end. The lower end of it is scarfed to the keel, and the bowsprit rests upon its upper end. Hence, the forward part of a vessel; the bow. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Fig.: An advanced or leading position; the lookout. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wolsey sat at the stem more than twenty years. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Anything resembling a stem or stalk; as, the stem of a tobacco pipe; the stem of a watch case, or that part to which the ring, by which it is suspended, is attached. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Bot.) That part of a plant which bears leaves, or rudiments of leaves, whether rising above ground or wholly subterranean. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. (Zool.) (a) The entire central axis of a feather. (b) The basal portion of the body of one of the Pennatulacea, or of a gorgonian. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. (Mus.) The short perpendicular line added to the body of a note; the tail of a crotchet, quaver, semiquaver, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. (Gram.) The part of an inflected word which remains unchanged (except by euphonic variations) throughout a given inflection; theme; base. [ 1913 Webster ]

From stem to stern (Naut.), from one end of the ship to the other, or through the whole length. --
Stem leaf (Bot.), a leaf growing from the stem of a plant, as contrasted with a basal or radical leaf. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To remove the stem or stems from; as, to stem cherries; to remove the stem and its appendages (ribs and veins) from; as, to stem tobacco leaves. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To ram, as clay, into a blasting hole. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Stemmed p. pr. & vb. n. Stemming. ] [ Either from stem, n., or akin to stammer; cf. G. stemmen to press against. ] To oppose or cut with, or as with, the stem of a vessel; to resist, or make progress against; to stop or check the flow of, as a current. “An argosy to stem the waves.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ They ] stem the flood with their erected breasts. Denham. [ 1913 Webster ]

Stemmed the wild torrent of a barbarous age. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To move forward against an obstacle, as a vessel against a current. [ 1913 Webster ]

Stemming nightly toward the pole. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Bot.) Embracing the stem with its base; amplexicaul, as a leaf or petiole. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having no stem; (Bot.) acaulescent. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A small or young stem. [ 1913 Webster ]